Jobs · October 2, 2026 · 1 min read

Payrolls rise 29,000 in September and unemployment is 4.2%, BLS reports

Published October 2, 2026 • Updated October 2, 2026

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BLS reports nonfarm payrolls rose 29,000 in September 2026 and the unemployment rate was 4.2%. July was revised to a loss of 10,000 and August to a gain of 133,000, 60,000 lower combined.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported on Friday, October 2, 2026, that total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 29,000 in September and the unemployment rate was 4.2 percent. BLS described both measures as little changed. The number of unemployed people was 7.1 million, and the unemployment rate has stayed between 4.1 percent and 4.3 percent since March. Revisions lowered the earlier picture. The change for July was revised down by 31,000, from a gain of 21,000 to a loss of 10,000. The change for August was revised down by 29,000, from 162,000 to 133,000. With these revisions, employment in July and August combined is 60,000 lower than previously reported. By industry, health care added 17,000 jobs, slower than its recent trend, and manufacturing added 9,000. BLS said employment in all major industries changed little over the month. Average hourly earnings for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls rose 5 cents, or 0.1 percent, to $37.81 in September, and are up 3.0 percent over the past 12 months. The average private workweek was 34.4 hours. These figures are preliminary and the prior two months are routinely revised. A single month of payroll data is not a trend, and this brief does not include forecasts or market reaction.

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